Setts



F. W. STORCK.

ENVELOP SEALING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 13. 1913.

Patented Aug. 15, 1916.

3 SHEETS-SHEET I.

F. W. STORCK.

ENVELOP SEALING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED cm. 13, 1913.

3 SHEETSSHEET 2.

U u A d .w H AU t a P \X/ITHEEEE E:

F; W. STORCK. ENVELOP SEALINGVMACHINE. APPLICATION FILEfJ OCT. I3. 1913.

Patented Aug. 15, 1916.

3 SHEETSSHEET 3.

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ENVELOPE SEALER MANUFACTURING COMPANY, A CORPORATION SETTS.

0F MASSACHU- ENVELOP-SEALING MACHINE.

To all wiiom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FREDERICK W. SToRcK, a subject of the Emperor of Germany, residing at Somerville, in the county of Mid dlesex and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Tmprovements in Envelop-Sealing Machines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to that type of envelop sealing machine in which envelops, the flaps of which are in a normal, folded position, may be fed from a stack successively into contact with means for raising the flaps, moisteningthe gum thereon, and then press ing the fiaps against the envelops thus sealing them- It has been the special object of my invention to make a machine which shall automatically adjust itself to variations in the condition, material and thickness of successive envelops, which shall feed them without overlapping, and which shall not dislocate their flaps by causing them to be creased or folded improperly.

It has also been my object to make a moistener which shall be easily cleaned and to so combine and arrange all of the parts of my device that itmay be cheaply constructed and simple and easy of operation.

My invention may be best understood by reference to the accompanying drawings in which v Figure 1 is a top view of the machine with a stack of envelops therein, two of which are being fed forward, one of them being shown with the flap raising, moistening and sealing elements all in operative relation thereto. Fig. 2 is a View'of the end bearing the moistener and sealing plate. Fig. 3 is a vertical cross section on line 33 of Fig. 1, showing the moistener and an envelop in operative relation therewith. Fig. 4: is a vertical cross section on line 4-4 of Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a vertical longitudinal section on line 55 of. Fig. 4.- Fig. 6 is a front view of the machine.

Referring now more specifically to the drawings, 1 is a frame preferably stamped from a single piece ofthin sheet. metal, the

base of which has extensions 2 and 3 to give it stability and is provided with rubber pads 4. Between'the sides of theframe 1 are mounted rollers 5 and 6 which are connected by a feed belt 7, preferably made of canvas and surfaped With corrugated rubber. The

Specification of Letters Patent. Pgflggnfigdl Aug, 15, 1916 Application filed October 13, 1913.

Serial No. 794,892.

rotation of the roller 5 by means of the handle 8 on the crank shaft 9 will cause a corresponding rotation of the roller 6 and a movement of the feed belt 7. The bearings of the shaft 10 of the roller 6 in the sides of the casing 1 consist of Slots (see dotted lines in Figs. 5 and 6,) which permit lateral movement of this roller 6 which is, however, controlled by the slotted bearings in the bracket 11 which is mounted to swing on the hinge pin 12. To a lug 13 on the bracket 11 is fastened one end of a coil spring 14 which is fastened at its other end to a lug 15 on the base of the frame 1. Thiscoil spring 14 Through the screw 16 the hinge-pin 12 may i be adjusted, thereby efiecting an adjustment of the shaft 10 of the roller 6, whereby the rollers 5 and 6 may be maintained in proper alinement, notwithstanding uneven shrinkage or expansion of the belt, thus causing the belt to run evenly.

An envelop rack 17 havinga side 18 and provided with lugs 19 and 20 is supported on the rotatable shaft 21 which passesthrough holes in the sides of the frame 1 and through holes in the lugs 19and 20. On one end of this shaft is fixed a thumb nut 22 and the. other end is threaded to engage a threaded hole in the yoke 23 which embraces the lug of the frame 1 so that the envelops maybe fed forward from a proper position. The rack 17 is preferably suificiently raised above the frame 1 (see Fig. 4) to permit a slight tilting for a. purpose to be hereafter explained.

Mounted upon the frame 1 and extending over the feed belt 7 is a slanting bracket 25 to which is fastened a metallic spring member 26, the curved foot of which rests lightly on the feed belt 7. Between lugs 27 and 28 on the bracket 25, by means of the screw 29, is retained a flexible rubber stripper 30 which also bears upon the feed belt 7.

It is the function of the metallic spring member 26 to press lightly upon the envelop and thus cause it to get a firm frictional contact with the feed belt 7. The smooth under-surface of this spring member 26 is such as not to retard the progress of the envelop passing beneath it and to permit it to pass so easily that its edge will not be upturned in a manner which would cause it to catch and make trouble in the subsequent operation of the machine. In order that the envelop next the bottom envelop may not be prematurely fed forward by the frictional contact of the bottom envelop the rubber stripper 30 has been employed. This grips the bottom envelop so firmly as it passes beneath it that the next higher envelop in the stack cannot slip by. Any effect which this rubber stripper 30 would otherwise have, to turn up the advancing edge of the envelop,

. is counteracted by the smooth metallic spring member 26. Thus but one envelop ata time is stripped from the stack and fed forward in a fiat condition and in close contact with the belt 7.

The flap lifter consists of a plate 31 which has an outwardly extending fin 31*, the edge 31 of which turns downward and slants back toward the envelop rack 17. (See Fig. 1). This plate 31 forms the top of a moistener tank 32 and is supported at one end by a bracket 33 on the frame 1 which is provided with projections 34 and 35 which pass through slots in the plate 31. The tip 31 of this plate 31 rests normally on the belt 7, and is thereby adapted to become first inserted beneath the flap of an envelop carried by the belt. As the envelop progresses the flap'is further raised by the fin 31 and plate 31. It is apparent that the moistener tank is freely removable. Through an aperture closed by the stopper 36 water may be admitted so as to wet the wick 37 which is adapted to be looped over a rod 38 (see Figs. 3 and 5,) which is mounted on the under side of the plate 31 and extends across an opening therein and which holds the wick in an elevated and'efiective position above the plate 31. Loosely mounted on lugs 39 and 40 on plate 31 is an arm 41 which serves by its own weight to press the envelop flap firmly against the wick 37. This wick 37 requires a great deal of moisture to properly moisten the gum on the envelops which are mto the tank 32 and tends to hold the wick in place.

It will be notedin the drawings that the rollers 5 and 6 and the belt carried thereon are slantingly disposed so that only the tip 31 of the fin 31 of the plate 31 will contact with the belt 7 near the upper side thereof. Thus there is left a space between the rearward portion of the downwardly turned edge 31 of the fin 31 and the belt 7 and between the moistener tank 32 and the belt 7, so that the body of the envelop may pass under these parts. This structure also permits the tank 32 to be supported in a level position so that the water therein will not overflow through the wick aperture.

Resting upon the feed belt 7 beyond the plate 31 1s a sealing plate 42 provided with lugs 43 and 44 through holes in which is loosely mounted the rod 45 which holds the sealing plate 42 in place and which passes through holes in the sidesof the frame 1 and bears a lever arm 46 to which is attached a coil spring 47, the other end of which is fastened to a pin 48 in the frame 1. This spring 47 exerts a constant tension to hold the sealer plate 42, with yielding pressure, against the belt 7. The backpart of the sealing plate 42 extends beyond its bearings on the rod 45' and does not rest upon the belt 7 which at that point passes downward over the roller 6. This structure permits the sealing plate 42 to be rocked slightly for a purpose which will be hereafter explained. The edge 49 of the sealing plate 42 is slightly upturned andslants away in the direction of the movement of the envelop, as shown in Fig. 1.

The operation of my machine is as follows:A stack of envelops is placed face downward upon the rack 17 with their flaps toward the raised part 24 of the frame 1 and the thumb nut 22 is turned until the side of the stack contacts with the raised part 24 of the frame 1. The stack is then pressed forward until its front end contacts with the bracket 25. The left hand of the operator is then placed just behind the bracket 25 and lightly depresses the stack of envelops at that point causing the rack 17 to rock downwardly at its forward end, whereby the face of the bottom envelop contacts firmly with the feed belt 7. The right hand of the operator then revolves the handle 8 of the crank 9, causing the top of the belt 7 to move away from the stack and carry with it the bottom envelop which as it passes under the spring member 26 gets a firm feeding contact with the belt 7, while the stripper 30 prevents the forward movement of the rest of the envelops. As the envelop-proceeds it passes beneath the backwardly extending slanting edge 31 of the fin 31 with'which', because of its angular relation with the belt, it must sooner or later contact, this depending upon the thickness of the envelop, so that the envelop lifts the plate 31 as the edge 31 gets a bearing upon the back of the envelop. The continued movement of the envelop must result in the insertion of the tip 31 of the fin 31 beneath the flap of the envelop so that the flap is raised and passes over the moistening wick 37, it being pressed downwardly thereon by the weight of the arm 41 beneath which the flap inserts itself in its progress.

A further movement of the envelop brings it beneath the sealing plate 42. As the envelop first passes beneath edge 49 of the sealing plate 42 and contacts therewith it lifts this end of the plate which rocks back on its pivotal mounting on the rod 45 and thus exerts but a slight pressure on the flap of the envelop, but as the envelop moves farther and projects beyond the point beneath the pivotal mounting on the rod 45 the rigidity of the envelop and its contents will cause the other end portion of the plate 42 to be raised and thus depress the front end thereof and cause it to bear heavily on the flap at a portion of its surface near the middle of the envelop. Moreover, the form of the plate 42 which is longest on the edge nearer the flap and which has a slanting line of contact with the flap tends to exert a folding and sealing pressure from the crease of the flap toward the center of the envelop. These features of my sealing element eliminate the common fault of roller sealers which is, by pressing the flap hard against the envelop at one end thereof at the start, when that end should not be sealed in its usual position because the middle of the envelop is bulged by its contents, thus to cause a dislocation of the crease of the flap which will leave an opening at the end of the envelop which last passes through the rollers, or perhaps will cause the flap to spring open again through its own tendency to resume a position determined by its normal fold or crease.

It isapparent that owing to the flexibility of the spring member 26 and the rubber stripper 30 and owing further to the movability of the plate 31 and the sealing plate 42, all of which are automatically lifted by the passage of the envelop beneath them, my

machine readily accommodates itself to variations in the thickness of successive envelops due to the bulk of their contents or to the weight of paper of which they are made. The top part of the belt which carries the envelop is, moreover, somewhat yielding and depressible owing to the spring controlled mounting of the roller 8 and this contributes the passage of an envelop thereunder, the

flap of which passes upover'the wisk 37.

The constant rocking of the tank 32 as it is lifted and dropped by the passing of envelops beneath it tends to agitate the water therein and to keep the wick 37 always properly moistened, as the level of the water in the tank may be kept at substantially the level of the Wick-opening so that when the Water is agitated it will tend to flow out slightly around the wick.

Having thus fully described my invention what I claim is 1 1. In an envelop sealing machine the combination of a feeding means and a flap-raising member extending transversely across the path of the feed and loosely mounted at one end which is thereby held in an elevated position above one side of the path of the feed, the opposite end being free to swing above the other side of the path of the feed and to be elevated by the contact of an envelop passing thereunder.

2. In an envelop sealing machine the combination of a feeding means and a flap-raising member extending transversely across the path of the feed and loosely mounted at one end which is thereby held in an elevated position above one side of the path of feed, the opposite end being free to swing above the other side of the path of the feed and to be elevated by the contact of an envelop passing thereunder, said flap-raising member being provided with a tip and a fin extending rearwardly therefrom having an edge which slants toward the source of feed.

3. In an envelop sealing machine the combination of a means for feeding forward envelops in a sidewise slanting position, a

flap-raising member and a moistener tank provided with a wick, said tank extending end whereby it may be swung upwardly by the contact of envelops passing thereunder and rocked slightly thereby.

4. Tn an envelop sealing machine the combination of a sidewise slanting feed belt, a flap-raising member consisting of a plate loosely mounted at one end and extending over said feed belt and having a tip at its opp'ositeend resting normally on said feed belt and supporting said flap-raising member in a substantially level position and a fin extending rearwardly therefrom having a dow-nturned edge which slants toward the source of a feed, a moistener tank extending beneath said plate which forms the top plate and a wick plate mounted above said feed belt, an arm whereon said sealing plate is rockably mounted, and a spring adapted to actuate said arm to yieldably press said sealing plate against an envelop passing thereunder.

In testimony whereof I hereunto set my hand in the presence of two subscribing Witnesses.

FREDERICK W. STORCK. Witnesses:

A. LORAINE KLEMM, DANFORTH W. 001mm. 

